As you descend the stairs into Marian's Quad, you see a large wooden display case in front of you. The case is filled with the trophies from MarianUs state and district athletic championships. Then looking to your right you see two rows filled with plaques that show MarianUs past district and state second place finishes. Where Does All The Credit Go?
by Laura Kenny
But something seems to be missing. You see all the sports awards, but what about the academic awards, the journalistic awards, the drama awards?
The drama and speech district plaques are displayed along with the journalism publications in the cafeteria display case. This makes them only visible to the Marian freshmen who sit at that end of the cafeteria and the other students who pass by as they walk in and out of the cafeteria.
The parents of players and students who attend other schools, or prospective Marian students who come to the games, only see the sports awards and never the academic awards. There are some academic awards displayed in the main foyer, but not many people use that entrance. As a journalism student, I am offended that the hard work the Journalism II students go through to put out the yearbook and newspaper is not more prominently recognized. Also, the drama state and district plaques in the cafeteria should be displayed with pride along with the sports awards in the student center.
Not only are the journalism and drama awards not sufficiently recognized, but the art department, general educational awards, and technical awards at Marian are not shown either. The only evidence of the educational aspect of Marian in the Quad are the two flags that hang proudly, showing Marian's achievement of back- to-back Blue Ribbons. This may partially reconcile the education issue, but doesn't help the other departments that are overlooked.
This isn't just a problem at Marian. It also happens at other schools. The area outside of Creighton Prep's gym has pictures of past 'outstanding' athletes and the awards they received. And while waiting for my sister to get finished with one of her basketball games, I noticed that Benson too displays more sports awards than awards of any other type.
I'm not trying to say anyone is biased at Marian, but maybe we need to take a little more time to recognize our other students and their talents. Put up the pictures of the all- state music winners along with the all-state athletes. We, as a community, should be proud of all of our gifted Marian students and show them that they are all appreciated, honored and respected.
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